TBWA, MindShare scoop top Agency of the Year prizes

At the packed gala awards ceremony in Hong Kong, TBWA scooped the Agency of the Year prize for the first time, while Media Agency of the Year winner MindShare took home the top media prize for the second year. TBWA, MindShare and Publicis emerged as the night's big winners. TBWA, which has been operating in Asia for eight years, beat contenders for Creative of the Year and Office of the Year honours. John Merrifield, the agency's chief creative officer for Japan, whose 'Vertical Football' campaign for Adidas picked up a slew of prizes at creative shows this year, was named Creative of the Year, while Office of the Year went to TBWA\ Tequila Singapore. Publicis Asia chief Guillaume Lévy-Lambert won the Agency Head of the year (Regional) prize, while George Singelton was named Account/Business Development Person of the Year. MindShare also took home the Media Planner/Buyer of the Year Award for Chanchal Chakrabarti's work on Unilever. OgilvyOne China was named Below-the-line Agency, DHL Asia-Pacific won as Marketer of the Year and Wunderman India head Rajat Sethi was National Agency Head winner.